Trump's design feedback on border wall prototypes: "We have to have a see-through wall"

Gotta have see-through: Donald Trump inspects the border wall prototypes in San Diego on their unclimbability on March 13.

President Donald Trump took a firsthand look today at the eight massive border wall prototypes that he had commissioned in San Diego for the “big, beautiful wall” he wants to build along the Southwest border, favoring a mixture of see-through capability topped with rounded concrete to make it impassable by climbers.
— San Diego Union Tribune

It's been a busy Tuesday morning for Donald Trump today: after firing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via a 5:44 AM Tweet, he traveled to San Diego to personally inspect the 8 border wall prototypes that had been erected last fall mere yards away from the actual U.S. border with Mexico.

One of the four "other materials" prototypes. Image: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Upon visiting the 30-foot-tall structures, Trump's initial design feedback seemed to strongly favor the four non-concrete "other materials" prototypes over the solid, opaque versions: "You have to have see-through," he said. "You have to know what's on the other side of the wall." Trump gave more specifics, adding: "You could be two feet from a criminal cartel, and you don't even know they’re there."

Another "other materials" prototype. Image: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

In an unexpected, almost admiring tone, Donald Trump praised the athletic abilities of immigrants trying to enter the United States, saying: "These are like professional mountain climbers. They're incredible climbers. They can't climb some of these walls. Some of them they can. Those are the walls we're not using."

Meanwhile San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer issued a statement this morning, inviting Trump to look at San Diego's symbiotic relationship with Mexico as an opportunity for free trade and an example of a prospering cross-border economy: "He will see firsthand how a major American city benefits from having not just a modern border crossing but also a working relationship with Mexico."